African painters shine in the second installment of Saatchi Gallery’s extensive two-continent survey of emerging artists from Africa and Latin America.

“Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America” focuses on the still somewhat under-represented terrain of African and Latin American contemporary art. Art Radar spotlights exciting new names to watch in the African scene.

“Pangaea II” is the second installment of Saatchi Gallery‘s museum-scale survey of contemporary art from Africa and Latin America. The exhibition features 19 artists from the two continents and runs until September 2015.

“Pangaea”

“Pangaea” is a 20th-century word referring to a 270-million-year-old supercontinent – a prehistoric land mass containing all of today’s continents, including the then-conjoined Africa and Latin America. Saatchi Gallery reunites the former sister continents by surveying contemporary art from the two regions, exploring “notions of cultural hybridity, identity and socio-economic conflict”, according to the press release.

Nevertheless, the mega survey works because of its scope and inclusivity. Featuring sculpture, painting, installation and photography, “Pangaea II” showcases diverse cultural influences and thriving creativity. The artists employ a hybrid of traditional and contemporary techniques and materials, displaying an exciting range of styles and motifs. According to the press release:

Witnesses to the transformation of their societies, the artists working in these two distinctive regions are increasingly based within cities that are changing at an unprecedented rate. Their work […] reflect[s] on social and political issues faced during this period of rapid urban and economic expansion.

Meanwhile, Boris Nzebo (b. 1979, Port-Gentil, Gabon) employs a flamboyant palette on multi-layered canvases , weaving colourful silhouettes into kaleidoscopic architectural backgrounds. According to the exhibition press release, Nzebo’s art began as “graphic illustrations to attract customers to his brother’s barbershop”, but has now become

Two more exciting names to watch in the African scene are young artists Ibrahim Mahama (b. 1987, Tamale, Ghana), who was also featured in “Pangaea I” last spring, and Eddy Ilunga Kamuanga (b. 1991, Kinshasa, Congo). Mahama is known for his choice of canvas – the humble, roughly woven coal sack – with which he produces spectacular, majestic outdoor installations as well as mountable canvases. According to his Saatchi artist profile, Mahama’s works

are the result of his investigation of the conditions of supply and demand in African markets.

Meanwhile, the even younger Kamuanga creates bright and textured works that are “traditionally aesthetic yet also draw on contemporary advertising and photography, creating an African art representative of the ambitious and socially engaged youth”, according to the exhibition press release. Kamuanga recently set up an artist collective; his Saatchi artist profile says that his

persevering vision is characteristic of the vibrant intellectual community that continues to flourish in Central Africa.